Sony Pictures Goes Gaga for Guba

By Geoff Duncan Published July 11, 2006

It seems like only last week that Usenet media horde Guba.com entered into a deal with Warner Brothers to sell movies online. Well, this week, Sony Pictures is joining the party, announcing it will also sell movies online via Guba.com.

“We are open for business on the Internet. GUBA is a powerful user-generated community and this deal demonstrates our strategy to find the best ways to make our content available to consumers online,” said Benjamin S. Feingold, President of Worldwide Home Entertainment, Digital Distribution and Acquisitions, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. “This is consistent with our studio’s history of bringing the finest entertainment to people through new technologies and channels.”

Recommended Videos

Sony Pictures offerings via Guba.com currently encompass more than 100 titles, including recent hits like Spider-Man 2,Memoirs of a Geisha, and Underworld: Evolution as well as catalog films like Bridge on the River Kwai. Sony Pictures expects to offer more than 500 films via Guba by mid-2007. Films are currently only available to customers in the United States.

As with Warner Brothers pictures, prices for films range from $9.99 for catalog titles to $19.99 for new releases; some titles will also be available for video-on-demand purchase. Video can be downloaded and played on any system capable of handling Microsoft Windows DRM: this includes most Windows PCS, but not Macs or Linux boxes.

“Our partnership with Sony Pictures is another major validation of our platform and a significant effort by Sony to make online distribution of film attractive to the Internet audience,” said Thomas McInerney, CEO of GUBA.

Still, one has to wonder how many customers will line up for movies which have to be downloaded, can only be played back on a limited number of computers and/or portable devices, and (for new releases, anyway) cost just as much a standard DVDs while lacking things like commentary, extras, and bonus features. And it’s unclear whether you’d have to buy your digital movie collection all over again if your Windows Media Center hard drive went south. Really now: people don’t back up their email and documents, do we really think they’re going to back up movies? Especially ones where DRM prevents them from being burned to DVD?

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Audio / Video

You Asked: Blu-ray picture fix, lossy vs. lossless, and AI self-calibration

You Asked

On today’s You Asked: Can streaming and cable signals look better than 4K Blu-ray discs? When is the 65-inch TCL QM8 review coming out? Which is better on Apple or Amazon Music: lossless or Dolby Atmos? And can the power of AI be used to create a self-calibrating TV?

A 4K Blu-ray picture fix?

Audio / Video

This 65-inch Sony OLED TV is $700 off — for now

Sony A80L 4K OLED TV.

For those who are on the hunt for OLED TV deals, it rarely gets better than this -- the 65-inch Sony Bravia XR A80L 4K OLED TV, which is originally priced at $2,200, is down to $1,500 from Best Buy. That's $700 in savings on an excellent display for any living room or bedroom, but we're not sure how long the offer will remain available. If you think this is the screen upgrade that you've been waiting for, we highly recommend completing your purchase as soon as you can because the discount may end at any moment.

Why you should buy the 65-inch Sony Bravia XR A80L 4K OLED TV
The Sony Bravia XR A80L 4K OLED TV is featured in our roundup of the best OLED TVs as one of the more affordable models that still provides amazing picture quality and stunning HDR performance. These are possible with Sony's Cognitive Processor XR, which processes and remasters thousands of on-screen elements instantly. The OLED TV runs on the Google TV platform, which not only grants access to all of the popular streaming services, but also enables voice commands through Google Assistant.

Deals

Get all-day hearing clarity with Sony’s self-fitting OTC hearing aids

Man wearing Sony CRE-C10 OTC hearing aids.

OTC or over-the-counter hearing aids are a relatively new category of products that offer accessible, affordable access to the aforementioned technology. Usually, hearing aids are expensive and only available through a prescription. That's no longer the case, especially with Sony's OTC self-fitting hearing aids. They feature replaceable batteries that offer all-day hearing clarity blending modern technology and comfort to ensure you can adapt to your surroundings. Get prescription-grade sound quality via FDA-cleared OTC hearing aids that analyze and optimize sound based on your environment. Here's the best part, today they're $100 off at Best Buy. Normally $800, grab them for $700.

Why you should shop these Sony OTC self-fitting hearing aids at Best Buy
The discreet, earbud-style Sony hearing aids offer everyday clarity and balance. If you must know the model number, these are the Sony CRE-C10. They fit comfortably inside the ear canal, offering prescription-grade sound quality. The settings are fully adjustable within the Sony hearing control app, as well. But there's one major difference between the CRE-C10 and the CRE-E10. The former has traditional size 10 batteries offering up to 70 hours of continuous use. When the batteries die, you can simply replace them.